Paddlefish snagging season ends, memories remain

May 1, 2013

Written by

News-Leader Staff

Brenda Eichholz of Sedalia and Missouri Department of Conservation Outdoor Skills Specialist Brian Flowers recently showed off a paddlefish that Eichholz snagged at Lake of the Ozarks at Warsaw.

The female fish weighed 70 pounds, measured 46 inches long and was about 13 years old. Brenda, a first-time paddlefish snagger, was participating in MDC’s Discover Nature Snagging Clinic in Warsaw on April 13. Participants attended an educational session on paddlefish before trying their hand at snagging for one of the ancient fish.

Paddlefish grow to large sizes even though their food is tiny zooplankton that they filter from the water. Missouri’s state record paddlefish topped 139 pounds. With their long, flattened snouts stretching out the body length, they’re truly a trophy fish.

“That’s why anglers flock to Warsaw in early spring,” said Trish Yasger, a fisheries management biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation who oversees its paddlefish management program. “Where else is a 40-pound fish considered small? There’s a possibility of getting one over 100 pounds. Sixty-pound paddlefish are not uncommon, and people catch 80-pound fish.”